Phantoms, 2000–2001

Sculptures. A body of work that references the phantom limb phenomenon: by evoking anatomical specimens of amputated body parts through absence (hollow spaces within solid blocks of transparent acrylic resin).

Phantom RH0

Lucite (acrylic polymer), 31x20x14.9cm

Phantom RH0 - detail

Phantom RH4

11.6x6cm diameter

Phantom RH1

11.5x14x7.4cm

Installation view at Old Operating Theatre, London 2001

Phantoms were exhibited amongst real anatomical specimens at the Old Operating Theatre & Museum, where historically, the amputation of limbs was one of the most common operations carried out by 19th-century surgeons before the advent of anaesthesia and antiseptics; and many of these amputees would have experienced the phantom limb phenomenon.